Hanging On Across the Line
by Li'l Albatross
Summary: What would happen if your best friend moved across town, where problems are supposed to just fade away? Turns out, things are hard everywhere. R&R. -On Hiatus-
1. Prologue

**A/N:** This story popped into my head randomly a while ago, and after battling with Writer's Block, I deleted it. I've decided that it's time to get it back up here, and I hope that I can continue writing. (Get away, Writer's Block!!) This is a Curtis Sister fic, but I hope it's a little different than what most are used to... Please let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer: **I am not the lucky owner of such great characters….well, except for the two girls. They're mine.

**PROLOGUE**

"Momma, I can't find my bunny!" Marigold Curtis screeched as she tore out of her tiny bedroom, trying to pull on a pink tennis shoe. Hopping on one foot, she slipped the other foot into the small shoe and nearly ran headlong into her mother.

"Goldie, please be careful!" Her momma sighed, practically dropping a scalding hot mug of coffee on the recently clean kitchen floor.

"But Momma, I have to meet Frannie before she goes away!" The small girl wailed, tears threatening to spill from her baby blues. The woman smiled at her daughter and pulled her into a hug.

"Honey-bunny, I'm sure you'll see Frannie again! She's only moving to the other side of town!" The woman said as she sat the mug on a nearby table and bent to tie the child's shoe.

"But what if she gets lonely? We promised we'd trade before she left, Momma," the girl wailed.

"Well why not go see if one of your brothers decided to play with it?" The woman asked as she stood from her stoop and moved to reclaim her coffee mug. As if a light bulb had gone off, the girl tore out of the kitchen, through the living room and down the old rickety stairs of the front porch.

"Sodapop Curtis, why did you steal my bunny?" The shrill wails of six year old Marigold could be heard up and down the block as she ran up to her three brothers playing with their friends on the front lawn.

"Aw Goldie, your bunny wanted to fly," answered her brother's best friend, Steve Randle. As he said this he threw the small stuffed pink bunny rabbit high into the air and into the hands of seven year old Sodapop Curtis. The two boys threw the rabbit back and forth, as four year old Ponyboy stood in the middle, trying to catch it.

The small girl with sunshine-blonde hair nudged her little brother out of the way and jumped, trying to catch the bunny just as a man and woman came out on the porch across the street. Instead, Steve caught it and let out a whoop as the girl turned to glare at him.

Without another word, the little girl ran up to her brother's friend and kicked him in the shin, hard.

"OW! Goldie!" He bellowed, dropping the bunny into her arms as he bent to rub his now sore leg. Laughing, Sodapop walked up and knocked him on the shoulder.

"She got you good, Stevie!" Soda pretended not to see his best friend glaring at him and ran to hide behind his big brother, Darryl.

"It was your idea to use the doll as a ball." The dark eyed boy muttered.

Goldie's appalled screech of "She's not a doll!" was drowned out as another little girl ran to join the other children.

"Frannie-bananie, did you come to say goodbye?" Sodapop shouted, popping up from behind Darry, as the girl hugged Goldie.

"Don't call me that, Coca-cola!" Frannie whined. She turned to Goldie and tried to smile.

"I brought my bear to trade, Goldie, just like we promised!" And sure enough, Frannie pulled a small grey bear that was missing its left eye out of the bag resting on her shoulder.

"It's **PEPSI**-cola, and only Dad can call me that," Soda grumbled as he turned to see what Darry, Steve and Pony were doing.

"Francesca, we have to be going now, sweetie!" The man on the porch called as they moved to get into their car. Quickly the two girls traded animals and hugged.

"You have our phone number, right? You'll call as soon as you can?" Goldie asked, suddenly afraid that she'd never hear from her best friend again. The other girl nodded, just as sad.

"Don't worry, Goldie-locks, I'll be in touch. I'll beg Ma to let you come for a sleep-over as soon as we're unpacked. Take care of Walter for me!" Frannie called as she ran to join her parents in their car. As she buckled her seat belt she turned and waved to Goldie.

The little girl stood on the sidewalk, waving back, as her best friend's smiling face moved out of sight. Frannie was just moving to the other side of town. They'd be in touch, right? It's not like much would change. Yet somehow, as the sound of boys wrestling in the leaves grew louder behind her, Goldie wasn't so sure. To a small child, right across town meant halfway across the world.

_**Please review!**_


	2. Typical Monday

**A/N: ** I promise I'll update my other stories as soon as I can… -squeaks-

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, these Outsiders aren't mine……..pity.

**CHAPTER ONE**

"MARIGOLD CURTIS, YOU BETTER GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED!" Darryl Curtis shouted from the kitchen one chilly Monday morning. With a groan and a muttered curse meant for no one to hear, sixteen year old Goldie Curtis pulled herself from the tangles of blankets on her bed and fell as her foot got caught. With another curse and a loud CRASH to alert the boys to her clumsiness _yet again_, Goldie tried to catch herself from falling.

_I hate Mondays,_ she thought to herself as she heard laughter coming from the doorway to her tiny bedroom. With a look to kill, an icy blue glare greeted Sodapop Curtis. He stood in the doorway, hair still wet from his shower, dressed only in boxers.

"Glory, you need pants too, Soda!" Steve's voice called out from the living room. Goldie groaned. Already, her brothers' delinquent friends were laying siege on the living room.

_They had better left me some cake! _She thought grumpily as she quickly pulled on an old faded pair of blue jeans, a yellow sweater pale from wear, and an old pair of tan boots. She brushed the tangles out of her long blonde hair and pulled on a small gold chain that carried a little angel. _For my little angel,_ her momma had told her when she had given it to her. Too tired to fool with makeup, she stopped to raise an eyebrow at herself in the mirror. She then stealthily slipped into the bathroom before her younger brother, Ponyboy, had the chance.

"Hey, Goldie, hurry up! It was my turn!" She laughed softly as her baby brother whined. She heard someone mutter something but couldn't make out the words through the door. _Two-Bit_, she thought as she heard her brothers laughing in response. Keith Matthews, known as Two-Bit, had become part of the band of boys that hung around her brothers when she was twelve. He was two years older than her, but still in her class. He had a goofy sense of humor and did his best to never take anything seriously. Sometimes he was the only one who could make her smile when things got too tough. While she wasn't exactly a quiet or weak girl, she often took things too seriously for someone at the "precious" age of sixteen.

After quickly brushing her teeth, she escaped from the bathroom and was nearly barreled over by Ponyboy. As she made her way to the kitchen, she saw Two-Bit sitting on the floor watching the TV, Steve sitting on the sofa staring at the ceiling, no doubt anxious to get to work, and Dallas Winston sitting in the armchair with a can of beer. Dallas Winston was the scariest of her brothers' friends. He was an okay guy, as long as you weren't pissing him off, but he was too hard after the stuff he had seen on the streets. He didn't bother Goldie though, since she was a Curtis.

"Isn't it a little early for beer, Dally?" Goldie asked him as she went on her search for food. Of course, there was no chocolate cake left, _Damn it, Two-Bit,_ but she kept a stash of bagels in the fridge. She quickly toasted a bagel and spread on some apple butter before taking a bite. With an _mmm_ of satisfaction, Goldie went to sit on the sofa next to Steve.

"EW, what is that crap?" He asked, disturbed by the dark brown glop on her bagel. The girl just glared at him and continued to eat. Even though she always put apple butter on bagels when she overslept, Steve always had to ask what it was. She was pretty sure he did it just to get on her nerves.

"Hey Honey-bunny, don't forget you have to help out Pony after school today." Darry said as he grabbed the keys for the truck. After their parents were killed in a car accident two years ago, Darry and Sodapop had started working full time to provide for Goldie and Ponyboy. They didn't have much, but they had managed to keep the small house their parents had owned, the family pickup truck the color of old candy apples, and food on the table. Sometimes the other boys spent as much time in the house as the Curtis' did, purely due to the fact that it was more like home than theirs.

Goldie rolled her eyes and tried not to show Darry how "thrilled" she was that she had to tutor her baby brother in math. Numbers came easily to her, and most times, math was the only subject she cared to work on when doing homework. Of course, Darry didn't really approve, but at least her tutoring Pony often got her off the hook. Pony would then help her out by giving her answers to her History and English homework. For this little arrangement to work, the two often worked on homework right after school. Besides, Darry liked them to have homework done before dinner, or there'd be an argument to raise the dead.

Steve saw her rolling her eyes and grinned at her.

"Yeah, Honey-bunny – and iron my shirts, too!" He laughed, ruffling her hair. She frowned and went to slap him away at the same time she arched her leg out to trip him, but he knew her too well. He slipped away, laughing, running to the door as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Once again, too fast for the Marigold!" he bellowed as Sodapop ran into the living room, carrying his work shirt.

"Bye Goldie, have a good day!" Soda said as he kissed her on the forehead and hopped out after Steve. Darry, Soda and Steve piled into the old pickup truck before driving off to work, tires spinning.

"Stay outta trouble!" She called out after them before giving up and moving into the kitchen to clean the dishes that were piling up on the counter. As she toweled off the last glass, Goldie heard the porch door swing open and knew to grab her books.

"Goldie, Johnny's here, time to get a move on!" Ponyboy called out to her.

"I'm comin', keep your pantyhose on." She mumbled as she came into the room.

"Hi Goldie," Johnny Cade quietly said. She smiled at the boy and reached down to switch off the TV, even while Two-Bit was still watching it.

Johnny was the quietest of the boys to hang with her brothers, and the one that Goldie looked after the most. He came from a broken home and it was no surprise if he wound up staying the night at their house to avoid getting beat on at home. He had dark hair and dark eyes that seemed to drown anyone that got caught in their gaze. Johnny was the kid that Goldie often went out of her way for, taking care of him like some lost forgotten teddy bear. He was the same age as her, but that didn't matter. If Johnny wasn't smiling, Goldie took it upon herself to make him laugh – which even Two-Bit congratulated her on.

"I hate Mondays." She confided in the quiet boy as she pulled the front door closed behind her. Together, the five began the walk to school – hard as nails Dallas Winston, scared and quiet Johnny Cade, burly and ridiculous Two-Bit Matthews, wiry and dreamy Ponyboy Curtis, and small and serious Marigold Curtis. In their eyes, it was just another school day.

_**Please review!**_


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